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Edgartown Approves New Liquor Licenses, Eyes Possible Suspension

Edgartown restaurant Il Tesoro at the Terrace is in danger of having its liquor license suspended.

The South Summer street restaurant, located inside the Charlotte Inn, was supposed to reopen by Feb. 5 following a short closure. As of now, it remains shuttered. Selectman Margaret Serpa said at an alcohol hearing Monday that if the restaurant was not reopened by Saturday, March 30, the selectmen would suspend the year-round alcohol license.

Il Tesoro owner A.J. Black did not attend the meeting.

In December, the board approved the restaurant’s proposal to close from Jan. 6 through Feb. 5 for annual maintenance and cleaning.

The restaurant opened in June 2009. A New York city branch of the restaurant is still open for business.

Also at Monday’s meeting, the selectmen approved two liquor licenses for new restaurants. One seasonal all-alcohol license was approved for 55 Main street, where Patrick Courtney plans to open a 49-seat restaurant. “Hearing no questions or opposition, I think that from what I’m hearing that people are looking forward to this,” Ms. Serpa said.

Another liquor license was approved for Eleven North, a new restaurant at 11 North Water street, the old David Ryan’s location. The selectmen approved transferring an annual all-alcohol license to Jonathan Koerner, the restaurant manager. Mr. Koerner has said the restaurant should open by Memorial Day.

Ms. Serpa said the location was “a hole in the middle of town last summer and we’d be happy to see it occupied this summer.”

In other business, the selectmen, operating under the advice of town counsel Ron Rappaport, approved new dredge protocols for the town dredge after unauthorized work was done on a private project in January.

The project was approved by then dredge committee chairman Norman Rankow, who served as the general contractor for the project at 51 Witchwood Lane, where the unauthorized dredge project occured. Mr. Rankow has since resigned from the committee, and the board of selectmen has referred his actions to the state ethics commission.

The new procedures were reviewed and approved by the conservation commission, the shellfish constable, and the dredge committee, with guidance by the Department of Environmental Protection. The new protocols were outlined in a letter to the Army Corps of Engineers, which selectmen signed Monday.

The protocols require that all permits be obtained before dredging work is undertaken; that the board of selectmen, conservation commission, shellfish constable, and dredge committee approve specific dredge projects, and that operators of the town dredge have permits in hand before any dredging activity begins.

Private work by the town dredge is suspended until the adoption of more formal protocols.

Mr. Rappaport said that because the dredge committee was created more than 15 years ago, the town will look at whether the committee should be restructured to include members who have specific jurisdiction in wetlands and water-related issues.

The selectmen also approved a yacht race in Edgartown the weekend of June 23 to 24. There will be three days of set-up before the race, said harbor master Charlie Blair, and one day of breakdown afterward. The boats will be manned by large crews, he said, and will race in the outer harbor. The selectmen authorized the use of seven parking spaces by the derby weigh-in for containers with the yachts’ equipment.

“It’s pretty exciting,” Mr. Blair said, noting that the race is going to be televised, and will be based out of the Edgartown Yacht Club.

The selectmen also received a response for a request for proposals for wireless service on Chappaquiddick and Katama. AT& T mobility was the only applicant, and the selectmen referred the proposal to the wireless committee.